The present invention relates to a game which can be utilized by both young and older persons to amuse themselves. This game is unique in that the playing pattern changes consistently so that the younger quicker minds cannot easily master its details. For the older gameplayer, however, the game has a high interest quotient because it has a chance selection mechanism as well as a chance peg insertion mechanism.
Games utilizing pegs are very old as evidenced by the numerous peg games available on the shelves of many retail stores.
Also, many games have been provided which give a chance selection to the players. There have also been many games which give the player chance peg insertion. Both of these approaches to games in general have provided games which, although entertaining, have a tendency to become extraordinarily uninteresting after a short period of play time.
Such games are illustrated for example in U.S. Pat. No. 2,283,583, issued May 19, 1942 to H. Singer. Such a device is a "chance selection" device and depends for its novelty on a plurality of rotating discs which rotate around a center axis and which have a stationary indicator associated with each disc. The object of the game is to pre-select numbers or objects on the rotating discs and betting on such numbers or objects. If the pre-selected number or object appear under the stationary indicator after the discs have been spun, the person selecting such number or object is the winner.
As an example of a chance peg insertion game or device, one can turn to U.S. Pat. No. 2,871,018 issued Jan. 27, 1959 to Lauretta Fink. The device consists of a hollow cup surmounted by a removable cover which has at least one aperture therethrough.
Pegs are then passed through the aperture or apertures, as the case may be, and the manipulation of the pegs through the aperture is allegedly a test of skill. The pegs can be colored and the aperture sizes varied in order to provide additional skills to the game.
A further peg insertion game can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,537 which consists of a hexahedral hollow body whose walls are provided with through-holes numbered from 1 to 6. Rods are provided which are adapted to be inserted into the through-holes. The rods are of varying length and the object of the game is to place each rod in the correct hole without causing interference with any other rod. It is obvious that this game could be mastered in a very short time by simple memorization.
Another peg game which relys on peg insertion is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,708 issued Sept. 10, 1974 to Philip L. Shoptaugh. This game has an objective of forming tight clusters of pegs of the same length. The game consists of a gameboard which has holes in it of differing depths and pegs of different lengths. The players in a series of moves attempt to get their pegs in a tight cluster with the pegs all extending the same heighth above the board.
Finally, there is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,313, a game apparatus which simulates the drilling of wells. The object of the game is to insert a single peg through perforated plates until the proper perforation is pegged. The plates are pre-aligned to give a series of aligned holes and misaligned holes. Some aligned holes are electrically activated so that the insertion of the proper peg will activate an electrical circuit to light an electric bulb. Such a bulb when lit indicates a score i.e. a simulated oil pocket has been hit. This game, although very novel, requires only a chance peg insertion and is subject to memorization by the players.